Charge-air cooling devices are required to cool the fresh air heated by charging in a charged internal combustion engine, before it is supplied to combustion chambers of the internal combustion engine. Hereby, the mass flow of the charge air can be increased, whilst at the same time the combustion temperatures, and hence the emissions, can be reduced.
Usually, a charge-air cooling device comprises a housing which contains a charge-air duct and can be integrated into the fresh-air system of the internal combustion engine so that the stream of fresh air of the fresh-air system flows through the fresh-air duct of the housing. In addition, a charge-air cooling device regularly comprises a heat exchanger which has an internal coolant path and an external charge-air path. The heat exchanger is arranged here in the housing so that the external charge-air path of the heat exchanger is integrated into the charge-air duct, so that the stream of charge-air directed in the charge-air duct is inevitably directed through the charge-air path of the heat exchanger. A coolant circulates in the internal coolant path. The heat exchanger can be connected for example to a cooling circuit of the internal combustion engine, so that the coolant of the cooling circuit of the internal combustion engine also flows through the coolant path of the heat exchanger. Likewise, the heat exchanger can also be connected to a separate cooling circuit. In this way, heat can be extracted from the charge-air.
There are various approaches in order to be able to accommodate the heat exchanger in the housing. For example, the housing can consist of several, for example of two, housing shells, so that the heat exchanger can be inserted into the first housing shell before the second housing shell is securely connected with the first housing shell, in order to close the housing. Alternatively, it is likewise possible to provide the housing with a mounting opening, through which the heat exchanger can be pushed into the housing in a longitudinal direction of the heat exchanger. In the pushed-in state, the charge-air duct then leads through the charge-air path.
Irrespective of the particular type of mounting or type of production, the problem exists of arranging the heat exchanger in the housing so that as few leaks as possible occur for the flow of charge-air, by which the charge-air flow can bypass the heat exchanger or respectively the charge-air path. Such leaks are possible for example in the region of a leading longitudinal end of the heat exchanger on pushing in of the heat exchanger, i.e. on a rear base of the heat exchanger. In order to prevent such a leak, sealing measures are basically possible which operate for example with separate sealing elements and are accordingly comparatively costly to produce.